The president of Atlanta-based Tyler Perry Studios died Friday night when the small plane he was piloting crashed on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
The studio confirmed on Saturday that president and general manager Steve Mensch, 62, had passed away.
“We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our dear friend Steve Mensch,” the studio said in a statement. “Steve was a valued member of our team for over eight years and was well-loved in the Atlanta community. It’s hard to imagine not seeing him smiling throughout the halls. He will be greatly missed. We all send our prayers to his family and our hearts go out to them.”
The accident occurred in Homosassa, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of Tampa. Photos from the scene show the plane resting upside down on the road. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating.
FAA records show the single-engine Vans RV-12IS was registered to Mensch’s home address in Fayetteville, a suburb of Atlanta.
Mensch helped defend and preserve Georgia’s annual film tax credit of more than $1 billion. Thanks to these generous subsidies, Georgia has become one of the most active locations for film and television production in the United States.
Mr. Mensch entered the film industry when he began working for Feature Systems, which provided equipment to the film industry. He was hired by Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting to run the studio and later became director of strategic production partnerships. So he began lobbying the state government for more aid for film and television production.
Actor Rick Reitz, who also helped create the tax credit, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Mensch helped market the state before the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and that the entertainment industry lobbying group He said he helped launch the Georgia Production Partnership.
“He was trying to develop a vision for the market before the Olympics and wanted to create a think tank for local residents to make Georgia more competitive,” Reitz said. “He was a key figure in our growth into a strong film and television market.”
After a year of helping plan and build a giant studio in China and a brief stint opening Third Rail Studios outside of Atlanta, Perry hired Mensch in 2016 to help establish and build his eponymous studio. I helped manage it. The studio is spread over 330 acres (135 hectares). A former Army base south of Atlanta that Perry acquired in 2015.
Mensch died the same day Perry released Six Triple Eight, a war drama about a mostly black, all-female World War II battalion. The film was shot at a studio in Atlanta.
Mensch is survived by his wife Danila and three children.
